František Bělský (as artist used the name Franta Belsky; in Czech Franta Bělský, 6 April 1921 – 5 July 2000) was a Czech-British sculptor.

He was known for large-scale abstract works of public art as well as more iconographic statues and busts of noted 20th-century figures such as Winston Churchill and members of the British royal family.

Biography

He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, in 1921, the son of the economist Josef Bělský. His family stemmed originally from the village of Bělá, hence the toponymic surname Bělský. With his family, he fled to the United Kingdom after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia, and volunteered for the Czechoslovak Exile Army. He fought in the Battle of France as a gunner and was twice mentioned in dispatches, once for carving a memorial stone to Czechoslovak soldiers whilst stationed at Cholmondeley, Cheshire, and again in 1944 when he was awarded the Czech bravery award for repairing a telephone line in France while under enemy fire.

Belsky continued his studies at the Royal College of Art, studying under Frank Dobson and John Skeaping, graduating with an Honours Diploma in 1950. He received his first public commission for the Festival of Britain in 1951. A number of commissions followed, and was awarded the medal for sculpture by the Paris Salon, winning bronze in 1955 and silver in 1956. His studio was at his cottage in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire.

  • Torsion, Shell Centre, South Bank, London (1961)
  • William Herschel Memorial, Observatory House, Slough (1969)
  • Totem, Arndale Centre, Manchester (1977)
  • Lovers (1983)
  • Leap, Jamestown Harbour, London (1988)
  • Memorial to Czechoslovak paratroopers, Prague (1995)

Portrait sculptures:

  • Peter Ustinov (1952)
  • Ann Clegg (1958)
  • the wife of Dimitrios Konstantinidis (1961)
  • Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1962)
  • Harry S. Truman (1975)
  • Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Horse Guards Parade, London (1983)
  • Sally Korda (1983)
  • Prince William (1985)

Five bronze busts by Belsky are held in the National Portrait Gallery, London:

  • Cecil Day-Lewis (1952)
  • Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1979)
  • Queen Elizabeth II (1981)
  • Prince Andrew, Duke of York (1984)
  • John Piper (1987)

References

  • Sculpture, Franta Belsky ().
  • Portrétoval anglickou královnu: Franta Bělský, česko-britský příběh 20. století. (). https://argo.cz/foreign-rights/bohumil-vostal/
  • The Churchill Papers, The Churchill Centre.
  • “Everything started with the Queen Mother”: How sculptor Bělský found unparalleled success in UK. Ian Willoughby, Radio Prague International.